Here at CC I teach a wide variety of classes, many of which seem tangentially related to geochemistry. However, the act of preparing for class and talking with students in class often offers me a chance to revisit topics I might not have thought about since I was an undergraduate, and I often find that this leads to new geochemical insight on my part. More personally, I find teaching to be very satisfying, and I enjoy working with students, helping them learn new concepts, and seeing them grow as people and as geologists.
Here’s what I teach:
- Introductory Geology (GY130 and GY140). Basic introduction to earth materials and processes utilizing local geologic features and short field trips.
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Introduction to Global Climate Change (EV128). Designed to provide our Environmental Science majors with an introduction to geologic time, chemical cycles, climate change over time, and the impact of this change on plant, animal and human ecosystems.
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Rocky Mountains as a Physical and Chemical System (GY211 & GY212). These sophomore-level courses provide an introduction to all of the sub-disciplines of geology that we teach at CC (earth materials and processes, structural geology, geomorphology, geophysics, stratigraphy). This is done by having students undertake field and laboratory investigations of regional geologic features with the goal of learning about the history of the region.
- Historical Geology (GY205). Overview of organic evolution with a focus on several through-going themes such as the role of mass extinctions, climate change, and tropic-level ecological interactions. Changes in paleogeography of western North America over time are illustrated by way of a week-long field trip.
- Geochemistry (GY335). Case studies/journal articles are used as a starting point to introduce geochemical principles and illustrate some of their applications. In addition, real geochemical data are incorporated into problem sets. As a summary project, original research is undertaken by the class.
- Senior Seminar (GY400). Our version of a graduate-type seminar for seniors. Involves reading and discussion of journal articles as well as the collection, analysis, and presentation of original scientific data. Recent topics include: “Sedimentary basins as geologic libraries” and “Multiple methods of studying terrestrial environments of the past”.
I also teach a variety of upper level courses on topics like Isotope Geochemistry, Geologic Records of Past Environments, and Regional Studies (field-based) on a less frequent basis.
